Commissioner Victor Crist endorses Indian American Aakash Patel

The election is being held for the District 1 seat which is being vacated by Sandy Murman who is running for another four-year term in District 7.

Aakash Patel, the Indian American Republican delegate for Hillsborough County Commission, got the endorsement of District 2 Commissioner Victor Crest on Thursday.

According to Florida Politics, both Patel and Crist have known each other since the time Patel enrolled as a student in Sickles High School, which was during the time when Crist was in the state Senate.

The two have worked together when Crist re-appointed Patel to serve as the Vice Chair of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for two years.

“I am pleased to endorse Aakash Patel for Hillsborough County Commission. I have been impressed with his energy and involvement in our community. His work ethic and drive will be very beneficial to the Commission,” Crist said.

“The experience and common sense he brought to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee were invaluable to his fellow committee members and helped to improve the quality of their decision-making.”

According to the campaign figures submitted in March, Patel has raised $378,751 including $288,601 for his campaign account and $90,150 for his political committee, Elevate Tampa.

Last month, Patel had announced that he received the endorsement of former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Will Weatherford.

The election is being held for the District 1 seat which is being vacated by Sandy Murman who is running for another four-year term in District 7.

“It is such an honor to have the support of Commissioner Crist. I have always appreciated his service to our community and his willingness to allow me the opportunity to continue serving on the Citizens Advisory Committee,” Patel said. “I know that Commissioner Crist’s endorsement will help #Patel2018 continue our momentum as we continue our voter outreach approaching the August 28th primary election.”

Patel studied his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English Literature at Florida State University. During this time, he also worked at The Tampa Bay Times, Tallahassee Bureau. He is also a graduate of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Tampa (2012), FBI Citizen’s Academy (2012), Tampa Police Citizen’s Academy (2012), Tampa Bay Public Leadership Institute (2013) Leadership Tampa Bay (2011), and Tampa Connection (2010), and College Leadership Florida (2005). He is enrolled in City of Tampa’s Mayor’s Neighborhood University, according to his LinkedIn profile.